From left to right, Puerto Rico coach Carlos Cardona, Puerto Rico captain Hector Soto, Brazil captain Giba and Brazil coach Bernardinho with the official mascot at the press conference in Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 27, 2011 – Brazil coach Bernardo “Bernardinho” Rezende rated Pool A of this year’s FIVB World League, which includes USA, Poland and Puerto Rico, as the most difficult among the four-group annual tournament which includes 16 of the best volleyball teams in the world.

“Our goal is to be among the top two teams after the 12 matches of this round and move up to the next phase,” Bernardinho said during the press conference held on the eve of their first match against Puerto Rico on Friday. “Puerto Rico is a difficult team with players who have the experience of playing in foreign leagues.”

Puerto Rico coach Carlos Cardona of Argentina agreed with his Brazilian counterpart, saying that Pool A is “extremely difficult” but at the same time he said his team was ready for the battle.

Cardona, who added that the main objective of Puerto Rico is eventual qualification for the London 2012 Olympic Games, admitted that playing the first series against Brazil was going to be a huge hurdle.

“It is a very tough debut against a team like Brazil. We are not the favorites so we will try to be the surprise team,” Cardona added.

Here follows the excerpts of the press conference also attended by team captains Gilberto Godoy (Giba) of Brazil and Hector Soto (Picky) of Puerto Rico:

Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende: “I think this is the toughest pool of the World League with Poland and the United States as the other two competitors within our group. Our goal is to be among the top two teams after the 12 matches of this round and move up to the next phase. We have the same problems as other teams at this stage of the competition since we have been together only for the last 10 days. We are here with the best players we have with the exception of Murillo and Dante who had personal reasons for not making the trip. Puerto Rico is a difficult team with players like Soto an (Victor) Rivera who have the experience of playing in foreign leagues.”

Puerto Rico coach Carlos Cardona: “It is a very tough debut against a team like Brazil. We are not the favorites so we will try to be the surprise team. It is the start of the international season and we have to make quick adjustments. Our main goal is to prepare our team for the Olympic qualification and the group is motivated to achieve that dream. Our pool is extremely difficult but we are prepared for the battle and we are going to learn a lot.”

Brazil captain Gilberto Godoy (Giba): “We have a great deal of respect for the Puerto Rican team and I think it will be a tough battle against them since they have improved a lot in the past few years. They entered in the World League following victories against teams like Portugal and China and that is an important thing for volleyball in the Americas.”

Puerto Rico captain Hector Soto (Picky): “There is nothing impossible and everything is possible. Last year we were only a few points away from defeating Russia at the World Championship. We are going to try hard but it won’t be easy against Brazil, a very consistent team among the best for the past ten years. Our goal is to keep growing and move forward step by step.”